You Miscalculated
by Julia451
Summary: "You're a monster." Her choice of words was not random. They both knew they were repeating history. Kuvira's thoughts during and after her discovery of Zhu Li's deception in "Operation Bei Fong."


_You knew. Deep down, you knew all along_, she chided herself. She must have – why else would the girl whose loyalty she'd claimed to believe in so thoroughly, whom she'd entrusted with her most important project, be her first suspect? She turned to her instantly, with no hesitation, no doubt, and no grounds for suspecting her. _How did you know?_ She could detect vague images forming in the back of her mind where the answer was hidden, but she couldn't make it out. She couldn't explain why she knew before she even detected the extra piece of metal on her body and determined it was of the right weight and shape.

She only hesitated when it came to exposing her – she was conscious there was a pause much longer than necessary before she unveiled the incriminating evidence, as if delaying the inevitable would make in untrue. Another pause before she spoke. She could hear the strain in her voice when she finally did, the repressed emotion she was struggling to keep down. This was supposed to be an unforgettable display of her matchless strength and power – instead, all of her followers saw her duped by this quiet, meek, unimposing girl! It took every ounce of her willpower to maintain her composure. She had to appear in control, not caught off guard, not vulnerable, not full of maddening, blind rage!

She was angrier at herself than at Zhu Li. _How could you have let this happen? How could you let her fool you like this?_ No one had ever outsmarted her before. No one would dare to try! Yet, her shock at the sight of such an unprecedented impossibility was mixed with a vague sense of familiarity, as if she'd seen this all happen before. It didn't make any sense – nobody had ever defied her like this before! Where had she gone wrong this time? She quickly went over every moment of interaction between the two of them, trying to figure out what she had missed. She could recall no hint, no sign of rebellion, nothing that had seemed inconsequential at the time but now struck her as dangerous. She wasn't lying to herself – she had honestly never expected this from her...

"_I never expected this from you."_

The foggy images solidified into a clear picture. She remembered the words perfectly. The words she'd read in history books as a child, heard recited by an actress who stood across from her on a stage in Zaofu (Baatar had suggested that her hair ebony black hair and snow white skin made her perfect for her part). It came over her with a sudden, inward shudder of horror – this _had_ all happened before! Over seventy years ago!

The words formed in her mind again, but not as a memory: _I never expected this from you._ She heard them in her own voice. She heard herself asking in baffled disbelief, unable to reconcile what she had just seen with her perception of reality, _The thing I don't understand is __**why**__? Why would you do it? You know the consequences_.

She said nothing aloud – nothing but accusations of dishonesty and betrayal, trying to shift the blame and sin onto her opponent – but Zhu Li heard her clearly. They both knew what was happening, what they were reenacting. The girl stood her ground, immediately making her think of how another girl must have looked decades ago when she stood before the ruler _she'd_ betrayed with the same fearless defiance. Zhu Li held her gaze without flinching, her accusing glare unapologetic and unafraid. It was her eyes alone that said, _I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated_.

No... She was the Great Uniter, the Earth Emperor, the savior of her nation. She didn't make mistakes! She didn't miscalculate! She was the smartest and the strongest there was and had ever been, stronger than even the Avatar herself! She was as flawless and unbreakable as the smoothest, strongest steel...

_You miscalculated._

How could she have forgotten? How could she not have seen it?! _That_ was her mistake – forgetting what foolish risks love drove people to make! Never trust a woman who displayed no emotion and obeyed every order without complaint!

_You miscalculated._

But this was all wrong... She wasn't an evil sociopath like Princess Azula, one of the greatest enemies of her race. She was the hero of this story. She knew what it was to love. Only heartless, evil monsters with no true comprehension of love fell for this strategy...

"You're a monster." It wasn't shouted in indignant fury but whispered with calculated precision, by someone who knew exactly what the listener was thinking of.

"_My own mother thought I was a monster..."_

How dare she call her that! She should have shot a blade into her neck right then and there, but the consciousness of all the eyes on her held her back. Nothing rash, nothing undignified, nothing uncontrolled. She would make an example of the fool who had betrayed her. _No, __**you**__ miscalculated – you should have feared me more!_

"_You're a monster."_

She could still hear the words in her head after it was all over and the Bei Fongs were gone. Because she had ignored a prison break and insisted on going along with the demonstration. A foolish decision far below someone of her intelligence. So she was already losing her sanity, just like Princess Azula...

_You are nothing like her!_ She never even had a mother to think she was a monster. _Your adopted mother thinks you're a monster_. She was a hero! The only hero her nation had to protect them!

And if she wanted to do that, she couldn't make foolish mistakes like this again. She couldn't afford any more miscalculations. She would learn from her mistakes. This was the last time she would ever be beaten by the power of love. She would never be vulnerable to that weakness again. She would vigilantly guard herself against it from now on...


End file.
